On The Sublime

"That which is simultaneously attractive and repulsive." That was the definition my British Lit professor gave me for one little word that sparked my interest: Sublime.

He was talking about nature and the fact that it can be a magnificent wonder and at the same time, an indescribable horror. One second you're gazing up at a mountain full of beauty and majesty, and a second later you're contemplating all the dangers one mountain range can pose. Mud slides, wild animals, hypothermia...you get my drift.

People can be sublime. It's like watching Will Smith in Hancock. You're distracted by his good-looking face and bulging biceps--until you realize just how repulsed you are by his character and, really, the whole movie in general.

A 1988 American Reggae band was named Sublime. Good name for a band. But Reggae music? Mmmm. There it goes again. Simultaneous attraction and repulsion.

The dictionary definition of sublime isn't quite as interesting. Something sublime is thought to be highly noble or excellent. Awe-inspiring or supreme. Like the outside of an Oreo. Yes, the cookie--not the filling--the best part and truly sublime.

To sublime something means to make it higher, nobler, or purer. It's also a chemistry term where something solid is turned into a gas and then as it cools, goes straight back into a solid, skipping the liquid phase.

Now that's sublime. The attraction is there as you think about how amazing the world is in that processes like sublimation can actually work. And then there's that stomach-clenching horror that comes as you realize that you've just admitted to liking something about chemistry.

Lastly, if you sublimate something, you are changing an instinctual desire or impulse that may be publicly unacceptable to make it socially or culturally welcome. For instance, you would sublimate all your impulses to watch Hancock, eat only the frosting from the Oreo, or listen to Reggae music by simply...not doing them.

Oh the complexities of the sublime. There are hundreds of things that could be "simultaneously attractive and repulsive." I guess it's just a matter of personal preference and perspective.

How sublime.